Claudia Cardinale, Iconic Actress Of Italian Cinema, Passes Away At 87

Actress Claudia Cardinale died on Tuesday at the age of 87 in Nemours, near Paris, France. Her agent, Laurent Savry, reported her death to the AFP. Cardinale broke onto the scene in the 1960s and became one of the most prominent Italian stars of her generation, winning three David di Donatello Awards, Italy’s equivalent of the Academy Award.

Cardinale, who hailed from Tunisia, first garnered attention in the late 1950s, when she won a trip to the Venice film festival, where some Italian filmmakers were interested in her. However, she was initially unhappy with the industry and returned home to Tunisia. She was raped at the age of 19 and became pregnant, and sought out acting again as a way to independently support her son, Patrick.

Cardinale signed with producer Franco Cristaldi — who helped her present Patrick as her younger brother — and married him several years later. She then began her acting career in earnest with a role in Mario Monicelli’s Big Deal on Madonna Street. After a few years of such smaller roles, 1963 was a turning point for Cardinale.

This year saw the release of The Leopard, 8 1/2, and The Pink Panther, the last of which was Cardinale’s breakout in Hollywood. Carindale went on to star in such films as Circus World, The Professionals, and Don’t Make Waves, alongside the likes of John Wayne, Rita Hayworth, Henry Fonda, and many more.

In her 2005 autobiography Mes étoiles (My Stars), Cardinale said: “I was a movie star from a very young age. But I don’t deserve any credit for that — it was a question of fate. There was always a lucky star watching over me.“

More On Claudia Cardinale

In 1968, Cardinale appeared in one of the greatest Westerns ever made, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. She ended up being credited in over 130 movies and took on a few prominent stage roles. Cardinale and Cristaldi divorced in 1975, after which Cardinale lived with director Pasquale Squitieri until his death in 2017. The two had a daughter named Claudia.

Cardinale’s career spanned six decades, with her final film credit being from 2022. Though she may not have been as active in the mainstream in her final years, she had long cemented herself as an immovable if underappreciated pillar of cinema.

Claudia Cardinale’s Legacy

CLaudia Cardinale as Jill and Charles Bronson as Harmonica embrace and tenderly look into each other's eyes in Once Upon a Time in the West — CLaudia Cardinale as Jill and Charles Bronson as Harmonica embrace and tenderly look into each other’s eyes in *Once Upon a Time in the West*.

Claudia Cardinale is an inspirational Hollywood figure who may have ultimately gone into this profession due to circumstance, when she was seemingly more interested in pursuing a career as a teacher. But she was still very talented and considered herself lucky to have had this opportunity.

Cardinale’s passing will likely prompt many to revisit her films, and hopefully, everyone will recognize not just the contribution she made to cinema but the strength she embodied throughout her life.